Blow-out-preventer attachment for casing heads



Jul 12 1927. 1635 749 y c. c. HOSMER 'r BLOW-OUT PREVENTER ATTACHMENT-FOR CASING HEADS Filed Jan. 5, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheetl 1,635,749 July 12 1927. c" c. HOSMER v I BLOW'QUT PREVENTER ATTACHMENT FOR CASING HEADS File d Jan. 5, 1926 s Sheets-Sheet 2 July 12 1927.

I c. c. HOSMER BLOW'OUT PREVENTER ATTACHMENT FOR CASING HEADS I Filed Jan. 5, 1926 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 PATENT OFFICE.

- CHESTER C. HOSMER, OF HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA.

BLOW-OUT-PREVENTER ATTACHMENT FOR CASING HEANS.

Application'flled January 5, 1926. Serial No. 79,327.

blowout occurs when there is no pipe in the hole, and the packing off device described in said pending application is'not suitable for packing off an open hole. Usually there is a warning noise or other signs that indicate to the skilled driller that a blowout is about to occur, giving him an appreciable length of time, say about one minute, to pack oil the well if a suitable packing apparatus is available. The object of the present inven: tion is to provide means which can be instantly applied to the casing head when there is no pipe in the well for effectively packing oif the well and preventing a blowout.

It is another object of this invention to provide a spider on a casing head'having locking members provided with springs tending to move the locking members inwardly and to engage and lock firmly in position a closure cap, the latter being provided with corresponding locking lugs. A

' packing is disposed just below the closure cap and encircles the lower end of the'pip-e mounted in screw threaded relation on said closure cap which pipe, on rotation in one direction, expands the packing, making a tight joint with the casing head, and in this manner shuts ofli' the well. Valve controlled means are provided for relieving the pressure and to conduct the gases and liquids from the closure cap, as desired. The closure cap is suspended from the crown sheaf of the derrick and instantly available. In case of an impending blowout, it is merely necessary to drop the closure cap on to the spider, which is provided with means for guiding the closure cap in proper position for look ing engagement with the locking members of the spider, and to give the closure cap pipe a few turns to expand the. acker carried by the closure cap to pack of t e well. With the above and other objects in view,

which will appear as the e rip i n procecds, my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, which form a part of the specification;

Figure 1 is a front elevation with parts in section showing a casing head and suspended above the same a closure cap ready for operation to pack off the well;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the closure cap in locking engagement with the casing head; Fig. 3 is a top the casing head;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross section of the casing head taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the casing head including the spider;

Fig.6 isa vertical cross sectional view of the same;

Fig. 7 is a top-plan view of the closure p;

Fig. 8 is a vertical 'cross sectional view of the closure cap and expansible packer carried thereby;

Fig. 9 is a sideelevation of the closure cap;

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the expansible packer;

Fig. 11 is a vertical cross section thereof;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the central rubber section of the packer;

Referring to thedrawings, 1 indicates a well casing on which is mounted a casing head 2, connected to the casing 1, by means of a coupling 3. The casing head 2 is pro vided with the usual lateral gas pipes 4 controlled by valves 5. The bore 6 of the casing head 2 is enlarged at the upper end at 7 there being inclined tapered packing seat 8 for the reception of the tapered lower end of the packing, as will hereinafter be described.

Referring to Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive, the casing head 2 is screw threaded at 9 at the upper end for the reception of .a tubular spider 10. There are four verticalannular guide flanges 11 projecting upwardly from the spider, the sides 11 of said guide flanges being spaced and parallel to the sides of the adjacent guide flanges, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, thus providing vertical channels 12 in which locking bars 13 are 'pivotally mounted on horizontal pivot pins .14 mounted in guide flanges 11.' "The .lockin'gba'r's plan view of the spider in 13 terminate atthei'r upper ends in inwardly locking lugs 29; of the closure ca and downwardly projecting heads 15. Helical springs 16 tend to brace the lower ends of locking bars 13; downwardly, thus moving the locking heads 15 inwardly.

Suspended from the crown sheaf 17 secured to the top of the oil derrick, not shown, on ya cable 18, or so-called cat line, is a tubular closure cap 19, internally screw threaded, in which is mounted a pipe 20 provided with a master valve 21, above the same are gas pipes 22 provided with valve 23. At the upper end of pipe 20 is a socalled hull plug 24., provided with a ring 25 attached to-the cat line 18. The pipe 20 extends below the closure cap 19 and is provided with annular shoulders or stops 26 and 27 (see Fig. 8) between which a packer 28 is mounted. The closure cap 19 is frustoconical in shape, being provided at the bottom with four outwardly projecting locking lugs 29 spaced many degrees apart. It should be noted that the upper face 29 is inclined inwardly and the lower face is beveled and rounded oii at 29 for a purpose that will be hereinafter described.

Vertical guide channels 30 are provided on the face of the closure cap 19 between said locking lugs 29. The expansible packer 28 carried on pipe 20 below the closure cap 19 is shown here as consisting of upper and lower metallic sections 31 and 32 respectively, between which there is a rubber ring 33. The latter is split on one side at 33 and provided with four vertical bores 35 through which pass bolts 36 that are tapped in corresponding sockets 37 of the lower metallic section 32. The upper section 31 is provided with four bores 38 having a'retaining shoulder 38 against which the heads 36 abut. The metallic sections 31 and 32 are-each composed of two halves, 31 31 and 32 and 32 respectively, so that the packer 28 may be swung a art and assembled on the pipe 20 between s. oulders 26 and 27, the central section 33 acting as a hinge at the part indicated at 33 opposite to the split 32 as will be understood.

- Operation.

Assumin that there is no pipe or tubing 'n the wel casing 1, and the casing head the casing 1, as shown in Figure 1, and that, as is often the case, the noise of the explosion of some gas bubbles indicates that a blowout is imminent, the operator will lower the cat line 18 from which the closure cap 19 and arts assembled therewith are suspended, and allow the same to fall onto the sp1der 10. Packer 28 will freely enter the open bore 7 of the casing head 2 and the 19 will securely engage the heads 15 of Ice ing bars 13 of the casing head 2 in which case they will initially force the heads 15 outwardly memes and allow the lugs 29 to pass them, and as soon as the lugs 29 have passed the locking bars 13, the latter will move inwardly in obedience to the pressure of the spring 16, the lower face of the locking heads 15 will engage the upper face 29 of the locking lugs 29, as will be understood, thereby securely locking the casing head 2 and the closure cap 19 firmly together, as shown in Fig. 2.

The closure cap 19 is aligned in proper position by the co-action of the guide flanges 11, whose angular edge engages the vertical guide channels 30 of the closure cap 19. If in its downward movement, the closure cap 19 should not engage the spider 10, but the locking lugs 29 of the closure cap 19 should engage guide flanges 11 of the spider 10 in that event due to the beveled and inclined surfaces of the guide flanges 11 and the locking lugs 29, the lower faces of which 29 are all beveled in the same direction, will cause the closure cap 19 to slide oif to one side from said guide flanges 11, and thereupon the locking lugs 29 and the guide channels 30 of the closure cap 19 will be in properposition to engage the locking heads 15 and the guide flanges 11 respectively of the spider 10, so that irrespective of the position of the closure cap 19 on striking the spider 10 the closure cap 19 will be immediately directed in be securely locked, asnplescribed.

The next step is now to pack 0155 the casing head 2 with the acker 28 by screwing pipe 20 downwardly y means of any suitable tool such as a pipe tong, the up or shoulder 26 on pipe 20 and above the pee er 28 will be moved downwardly against the top middle section 32 of the packer 28 and as the tapered middle section 32 of the packer 28 engages the tapered seat 8 of the casing head 2 any further movement of shoulder 26 will compress the packer and force the central rubber ring 33 outwardly against the thereby forming a tight closure.

The whole operation. of locking the closure cap in position and packing off the casing head, it will be understood, will take considerably less than one minute, and thus, within that space of time, prevent a blowout, of which the warning had been given. The well may be full of water or so-called mud, and the pressure of the gas will force the same upwardly, and the gases and liquids may. be conducted through pipes 4-4 controlled b y valves 55 or the said valves 5. may be kept closed and the gases and liquids may be conducted through the pipe 20, passing through the casing head 2, sp1der 10 and closure cap 19, through master valve 21 to the branch pipes off as desired. 7

Thus it is seen that an effective, positive the proper position and inner walls of the casing head 2,

22 and may be beaned means isprovided for quickly packing off a casing head and preventing a blowout.

To restore the closure cap in its original position, it is merely necessary to rotate pipe 20 so as to move the shoulder 26 upwardly away from the packer 28, allowing the latter to resume its former position, and then by manuall moving locking bars 13 outwardly agains the tension of the springs 16, thus unlocking. the locking lugs 29 on the closure cap 19, moving the closure cap mounted on said casing head, a plurality of substantially "vertical closure cap locking barsprovided with heads and pivoted on said spider, springs tending to move said locking bars inwardly, closure capguiding means integral with said spider disposed between said locking bars and projecting beyond the top thereof, said guiding means being provided with inclined upper faces, a tubular closure cap provided with lugs to receive the heads of said locking bars in interlocking relation, an expansible packer tapered at its lower end carried at the lower end of said closure cap, and means on said closure cap to expand the packer against the inner wall of said casing.

2. The combination of a casing head having a tapered packing seat, a tubular spider mounted on said casing head, a plurality of substantially vertical closure cap locking bars provided with heads and pivoted on said spider, springs tending to move said locking bars inwardly, closure cap guiding means inte ral with said spider disposed between said locking bars and projecting beyond the top thereof, said guiding means being provided with inclined upper faces, a closure cap suspended above said spider and instantly available to engage said spider, and provided with lugs to receive the heads of said locking bars in interlocking relation, an expansible packer tapered at its lower end carried at the lower end of said closure cap, and means on said closure cap locking bars inwardly, closure cap guiding means integral with said spider disposed between said locking bars and projecting beyond the top thereof, said guiding means being provided with inclined upper faces, a closure cap having peripheral lugs adapt-- ed to receive the heads of said lockingbars in interlocking relation, guide channels. on said closure cap disposed between said lugs and adapted to engage the guiding means on said spider, said closure cap having a central aperture, a pipe threaded therein and projecting below said closure cap, annular shoulders spaced from each other on said pipe and below said closure cap, and an expansible packer tapered at its lower end mounted on said pipe between said annuar shoulders and adapted, on the rotation of said pipe in one direction, to expand and to form a tight joint with the inner wall of said casing head.

4. The combination of a casin head having a packing seat, a tubular spi er mounted on said casing head, a plurality of closure cap locking members, springs tending to move the upper ends of said locking members inwardly, closure cap guiding means on said spider disposed between said locking members and projecting beyond the top thereof, a closure cap provided with lugs to be engaged in interlocking relation by said locking members, a rotatable member mounted in said closurecap and projecting below said closure cap, an expansible packer carried at the lower end of said rotatable means and adapted, on the rotation in one direction of said rotatable means, to expand and to form a tight joint with the inner wall of said casing head.

5. The combination of a casing head, a spider mounted thereon having locking means, resilient means tending to move the upper ends of said lockin means inwardly,

a closure cap for said spi er, flexible means suspending said closure cap above sald spider adapted to instantly lower said closure cap in position on said spider, means on said closure cap for initially pressing the locking members on the said. spider outwardly against the tension of said resilient means and immediately afterwards engaging the same in interlocking relation, a vertical pipe passin through said closure cap in screw threa ed relation, an expansible packer mounted on said pipe below said closure cap,

and means on said pipe to expand said packer against the inner wall of said casing head on rotation of said pipe in one direction.

6. The combination of a casing head, a spider mounted thereon, a closure cap for said spider suspended above and instantly available to' engage the same, closure cap guide means on said. spider and means for automatically locking said spider and closure cap together, an expansible packer below said closure cap and means passing through said closure cap, which, on rotation in one direction, will expand the packer to pack off the casing head.

7. The combination of a casing head, a spider mounted thereon, a closure cap suspended above said spider and instantly available to Engage the same, ically locking said closure cap and said spider together when the closure cap is lowered into the spider, an expansilole packer below said closure cap, rotatable meansconnected to said packer and projecting through said closure cap, adapted, on rotation in one direction, to expand the packer to pack oli said casing head.

8. The combination of a casing head, a spider mounted thereon, a closure cap, means through said closure cap means for automatand the casing movement of the ider, an expansible ead, means passing for expanding said packer to pack oii the casing head.

9. lhe combination of a casing head adapted to be mounted on a well casing, a spider mounted on said casing head, a closure cap therefor, means for removably looking said closure cap on said spider, an expansihle packer in said casing head, and

for looking the closure ca head together in downwar closure cap into-the s packer in the casing means for expanding said packer to pack off so the casing, head.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speccificatlon.

nns'rna 0. license. 

